Myth III: The Wolf Age
Myth III: The Wolf Age is a 2001 real-time tactics video game developed by MumboJumbo and co-published by Take-Two Interactive and Gathering of Developers for Microsoft Windows and by Take-Two and MacSoft for Mac OS. Myth III serves as the prequel to Myth: The Fallen Lords, and it's the third game in the Myth series following Myth II: Soulblighter. In 1999, Take-Two purchased 19.9% of Bungie's shares, but when Microsoft bought Bungie outright in 2000, the rights for Oni and the Myth series were transferred to Take-Two, who hired the startup company MumboJumbo to develop Myth III. Gameplay Like the previous installments,'' Myth III is a real-time tactics game where players are given a pre-determined selection of units with their own strengths and weakness, without the option to recruit any further units later in battle, emphasizing the tactics aspect of the gameplay. In both single and multiplayer games, players can utilize units in different way such as combat formations and special abilities and making use of terrain. While some units from the previous ''Myth retain their special abilities such as the Dwarf satchel charge and Heron Guard healing, other past units like the Bowmen are able to fire a secondary fire arrow that can set the targeted area aflame damaging nearby units and can use a knife as a last resort when in close combat. The single player campaign is only playable from the perspective of the Light, through a series of both linear and non-linear laid out levels, with end of level stats and individual unit kill counts and prevalence still present, along with the option to play cooperatively in multiplayer through online or local network. Plot Setting Myth III: The Wolf Age is set 1000 years before Myth: The Fallen Lords and tells the tale of Connacht the Wolf, a barbarian warrior from the lands of Gower and his rise to power during the Wind Age, an era of savagery during which the Myrkridia ran freely across the land, almost totally annihilating humanity. No-one who had ever fought the Myrkridia had survived, and with nobody to stop them the Myrkridia spread throughout the land, killing anything in their way. Only two human civilizations still remained; the isolated, barbarian lands of Gower to the East and the great city of Llancarfan. The Leveler returns once again, using the body of Tireces the Immortal, the person who killed him a millennium ago and names himself Moagim the Faceless Terror. Moagim begins to raise an army, including the colossal Trow, as well as Bahl'al the Watcher, the most adept Necromancer in all the land to crush the last remaining parts of humanity. Plot While Llancarfen, with its towering walls, was able to weather the Myrkridia, the isolated people of Gower were not so fortunate. The Myrkridia have preyed on the clans of Gower for centuries and although many stands were made against the Myrkridia, no clan was able to beat them back. During a final stand at the oldest settlement in Gower, Yursgrad, a young warrior named Connacht and the men of Gower manage to beat back the Myrkridia for the first time. Inspired by this feat, the clans of Gower unite for a common cause and a unified nation of Gower was born. Connacht and the clansman fought back against the Myrkridia back over the next few years, as well as destroying many of their nests and push them back into the Dire Marsh from which they came. He is heralded as a hero and is ordered to travel to Llancarfan to see the emperor when word of his feats reached the Empire of the Cath Bruig. On the way, in the company of a band of Heron Guard, he saves the life of the Damas, captain of the Heron Guard of Llancarfan. Damas pledges his life to Connacht. Connacht is introduced to Emperor Leitrim, who was enthusiastic about his arrival and Mjarin, Imperial Advisor and present High Master of the Warlocks of the Scholomance who was not so enthusiastic. Lietrim was eager to learn how Connacht and his people were able to fight the Myrkridia. Connacht simply states that it was all about fear and not to show it to Myrkridia, instead showing only rage and hate, making sure that it was they who should be fearful. Connacht also asks that, in return for his service, the Cath Bruig Empire would give aid and support to the nation of Gower. Leitrim agrees to Connacht's condition. Connacht is placed in charge of a group of Llancarfan soldiers, to train them to fight the Myrkridia. He would put his men through grueling exercises of endurance and mental condition, answering to a questioning soldier "when you fear Death, your sword becomes useless. When you fear nothing, the world fears you.". This was proven right when on a march drill, another company of troops were ambushed by Myrkridia and were routed. Conancht and his men rush to their aid and slew all the attacking Myrkridia while taking no casualties. They were soon named 'devil-slayers' in recognition of this feat. After they defeated a Myrkridian pack-mage causing havoc in the Downs, they discover that Moagim is the one behind this. Emperor Leitrim sent Connacht and the army to defeat Moagim at his encampment near the Twelve Duns, but were almost wiped out when Moagim counterattacked with his army of undead, Myrkridia, the Trow and their Oghre slaves (how he had earned their allegiance is unknown). Connacht was thinking of returning to Gower after this defeat but was persuaded by Damas that if Llancarfen fell, Gower would fall also. Still, Connacht had doubts of his leadership capabilities after facing such a merciless tactician such as Moagim. Myrdred, an Avatara who was sent as an advisor to Connacht, suggested that they find should Mazzarin, the most powerful Avatara to have ever lived, and persuade him to help them. Although the Avatara was slain by The Watcher many centuries before, Myrdred believed he was still alive somewhere. After a few weeks of scrying ancient tomes and manuscripts, Myrdred found a short message in one tome, "I will go to a place where life is old and the world is as it was in the beginning". Only one place fit this description: Forest Heart. So Connacht, Damas, Myrdred, and a Myrmidon warrior amazon named Ravanna (who insisted she accompany them) made their way to Forest Heart. After a few weeks of searching, they found Mazzarin's crypt and navigated their way through its hidden dangers before approaching Mazzarin himself. As a Shade, Mazzarin showed no interest in their cause, as he was no longer tied to the balance of light and dark. When Connacht told him that Bahl'al, Mazzarin's nemesis, was helping Moagim, Mazzarin became enraged and decided to transfer all his knowledge of the Total Codex into Connacht's mind, giving him knowledge of things long forgotten and events yet to come. The last thing he said to Myrdred was "... and disciple, let The Watcher know who has aided you in his defeat." Upon returning to Llancarfan, Connacht went to the Smiths of Muirthemne and spoke to their forgemaster, Traval, about a device that can imprison whole groups of foes. Traval said they could make this device, but they needed the "Unkarak Tomen" the Dwarf tome of building from Myrgard in order to do so. Unfortunately, word had been sent of a huge hoard of Ghols laying siege to Myrgard. Connacht told the Emperor about this and was granted a small army to assist the Dwarves. Before leaving for Myrgard, Connacht was told by Leitrim that he was putting a great deal of faith in him, and if he fails then the loss of troops would be the downfall of Llancarfen. Connacht answered simply, "I cannot fail, it is already written". Soon, after many harsh days of marching, Connacht and his army reached the Badlands. Despite the long trek and scorching heat, they found the bulk of the Ghol hoard and managed to destroy the majority of it. Meanwhile the Dwarves were fighting off a final assault by the Ghols and the casualties were great on both sides. The Dwarves had run out of their explosives and were nearly overrun by the sheer number of Dhols, when Connacht and his forces flanked the Ghols and their combined forces wiped out the horde. The few Ghols that remained swore eternal revenge upon the Dwarves. In honor of this aid, the Dwarves formed an alliance with the Cath Bruig empire, and Connacht retrieved the Tomen and delivered it to Traval, Much to the forgemaster's surprise. After months of hard work and nearly disastrous accidents, the "Tain" was completed. With the artifact in hand, Connacht and his army went to the Dire Marsh to put an end to the Myrkridia forever. They were able to imprison whole legions of the beasts, killing those who had managed to escape it's power and soon they came to the Black Spire where the (supposed) leader of the Myrkridia, Thalor the Black, resided. Much to their surprise, the Tain had no effect on the enemies near the spire because of Thalor's artifact, the "Eye of Thalor", which granted him immortal life and protection from spells. With no other option, Connacht led a small group of soldiers inside the spire and destroyed the Eye of Thalor, rendering him and his minions vulnerable. The remaining Myrkridia were then hunted down and killed or imprisoned. Shortly after this victory, Moagim, enraged that his precious Myrkridia were defeated, attacked Llancarfen. Despite having to deal with The Watcher's undead hordes and the Trow, Llancarfen repelled the forces of the dark. But strangely, Moagim didn't seem to show any fatigue during the siege. Despite being struck several times with arrows from the battlements, he simply pulled them out of him like they were minor annoyances. Observing the battle from afar through a spy glass, Connacht caught a glimpse of a small ornate scepter in Moagim's hand. In a flash of memory from ages past, Connacht realized that the scepter was infact a Rod of the Callieach. The rod was a legendary device that can render its wielder immune to damage and magic, effectively making Moagim immortal. After a brief meeting, the Avatara Sardonnac volunteered to take a small elite force via World Knot to Moagim's camp to destroy the rod. Upon arriving they fought their way into the camp and located the rod. Although Sardonnac did manage to destroy it, the backlash of magical energy from its destruction killed him instantly. Back in Llancarfen, Connacht and Myrdred came up with a tactical plan that could help win the war. To free the Oghre slaves from the Trow and incite their rebellion. This was met with some skepticism and objections from others as no race had ever fought against the Trow and won, not even the Forest Giants nor even the God-like Callieach from ages past. With a small army at their command, they traveled to a temple complex and Myrdred casted a Release Dream upon the Oghres, breaking the hold that the Trow had on them. The Oghres then turned upon their Trow masters, utterly destroying many of their cities in the weeks that followed. It wasn't long before the Trow withdrew their support of Moagim in order to deal with the rebellion. A few days later, Connacht returned to visit Traval and his smiths described to him another artifact that the Callieach called a "Sun Hammer". Initially, Traval claimed this was beyond his skill but then Connacht presented to him a Callieach Heartstone which was retrieved from the remains of Moagim's rod. Traval's smiths were amazed - it was the very thing they need to create the Sun Hammer, but even with this power source, it would still take months to make. During the Oghre rebellion, Moagim laid siege to the land around Llancarfan, and soon he decimated the Twelve Duns. Ravanna was shocked, as she was planning to return to the Twelve Duns alone, but her growing feelings towards Damas had stopped her. With Damas and a small team of troops, she traveled back to the Twelve Duns to rescue any survivors. Upon their return, Damas was court-martialed, but Connacht and Ravanna testified that even though he had disobeyed orders, Damas had saved thousands of refugees, not to mention over a hundred fighters. Upon hearing this, the emperor opted for leniency, much to Mjarin's disgust. Meanwhile, Connacht went to meet the Smiths of Muirthemne as he received word that the Sun Hammer was completed. However, when he got to their forge complex he saw that a group of fanatics called the Spider Cult was attacking the forge. Luckily, Connacht arrived with a small squad of guardsmen and managed to save Traval and a few smiths from death. To his horror, the Cult had stolen the Tain and the Sun Hammer. Connacht immediately rallied several hundred soldiers and laid siege to the Spider Cult's temple. What no-one noticed was that Traval and the remaining smiths infiltrated and killed off hundreds of cultists, giant spiders and even their spider god Syrkrosh and imprisoning her within the reclaimed Tain. At dawn Connacht and his forces attacked the temple but were stunned when they encountered no resistance. Not even any bodies were found. He made his way to the temple's vault and found the Tain and Sun Hammer along with a note written by Traval revealing how this whole mess happened. Apparently when constructing the Tain, Srykrosh came to this world from hers. During the near dangerous accidents from building the Tain, the smiths were the ones responsible for bringing her into the world and so felt honor-bound to defeat it. They also felt that the Spider God was attuned to them and could step back into this world as long as they were here, so they imprisoned themselves within the Tain too. During this incident, the Trow had forced the Oghres into the Valley of the Red Seal where a month-long battle ensued. The Oghres fought valiantly but the Trow mercilessly annihilated them until the very earth was littered with their corpses and not a single Oghre remained alive. When the Trow looked upon this slaughter, they realized the cowardice with which they had fought. Only now did they understand what the Forest Giants had told them long ago - they had corrupted the Soul of Iron, the substance their goddess Nyx had gifted them to protect their race, only to have it turned to the use of genocide again and again. The Ogres were merely the last race for that to befall at the hands of the ironclad Trow. From that moment on they swore never to use iron again, that "iron would be a tool best left for the younger races". The Trow had learned the humans were the catalyst for the Oghre uprising and turned their focus back on Llancarfan. On the way to the Trowlands, Connacht's armies fought their way out of an ambush by The Watcher. Connacht knew they had somehow been betrayed for The Watcher to have known their location. When they arrived at the Trow cities, they noticed that none of the Trow wore their iron armor and that the Trow temples were being used as a staging area for The Watcher's undead. Using the Sun Hammer, Connacht proceeded to melt the Trow temples and cities, trapping the Trow inside a prison of molten iron. The Sun Hammer, however, did not work on the Trow's capital city Rhi'anon because of an artifact called the Heartstone of Nyx that protected it. The Sun Hammer had gotten the attention of the Trow inside who stormed out to destroy the Llancarfan army. Myrdred cast a spell that froze the Trow attackers in mid-stride and held it long enough for a group of heroes to enter the city through a World Knot to sacrifice themselves in order destroy the Heartstone that protected the city. Connacht returned in great triumph over his victory over the Trow and gathered the Llancarfan armies to defeat Moagim once and for all. Emperor Leitrim pleaded Connacht to let him lead his people in this greatest hour. On the way, the Llancarfan army was attacked by Bahl'al (The Watcher)'s armies. In an incredible dream duel, Myrdred defeated The Watcher. The armies continued to pursue Moagim and prevent him from escaping into the Province. In the night Moagim snuck in to the encampment and killed Emperor Leitrim in a sword fight and took his crown before sending waves of minions to attack the encampment. After the battle, Emperor Leitrim was put to rest in asombre funeral. Connacht, even with the knowledge of the Total Codex in his mind, muttered "This was not written of". Connacht and Damas then led a group of unwounded, highly-skilled fighters to assault Moagim. Connacht and Moagim squared off in an epic axe-versus-sword fight in which Connacht killed Moagim. Leading his wounded troops down the snowy pass, Connacht was encountered by Mjarin, the late Emperor's advisor, who Connacht had by then realized was the actual Leveler. Moagim Reborn was merely a puppet of Mjarin's and Myrdred was, in fact, an agent of Mjarin's. Myrdred had foolishly obtained the powers the Leveler had to offer while thinking he could save the empire at the same time, and had not meant for the Emperor to perish. Connacht then branded Myrdred "The Deceiver" and banished him for his crimes. After denying Mjarin's offer to fight as one of his generals, Connacht and a group of men fought through Warlocks and other soldiers loyal to Mjarin, and made it past Mjarin's terrible fire magics for Connacht to get close enough to behead the Leveler, Mjarin. The head refused to die and continued to curse Connacht. The head was buried in some undisclosed location (which would later be dug up in the events of ''Myth: The Fallen Lords'') and Connacht became the Emperor of Llancarfan. Upon his coronation he bestowed 3 commands: first, the city of Llancarfen was to be renamed Muirthemne in honour of the brave dwarven smiths who sacrificed themselves to save it; second, in honour of the northmen who died fighting Moagim they were interred in the Mausoleum of Clovis where the first emperor was buried; third, the mountain pass where Emperor Leitrim fell to Moagim was to be renamed The Stair of Grief. The Wind Age had passed and a new age of light, the Wolf Age, had begun. Years later Connacht called in Damas and told him to gather Artifacts of Power. Damas said that he would gather them to Connacht but Connacht immediately ordered Damas to destroy the artifacts of power (and hide the undestructable ones from him) and never tell him where they were hidden. Damas was confused by Connacht order and asked why should the artifacts be destroyed. Connacht revealed that he knew, from the Total Codex, that he would return from the dead as the next Leveler and bring in the new age of darkness. He did not want the entity of the Leveler to have access to the items of power when the time would come where he would come back to life as Balor. After a long reign as emperor, Connacht left Muirthemne and traveled back to his birthplace, Gower, to see how his people had prospered now they were free of the Dark. And from there, as the legend says, the great hero Connacht disappeared into the unknown east, never to be seen again for a thousand years. Credits Mumbo Jumbo * Designer: R. Scott Campbell * Producer: R. Scott Campbell * Lead Level Designer: Patrick Hook * CEO: Ron Dimant * Artist: Craig Goodman, Craig Matchett * Music and Audio: Zak Belica * Lead Artist: Jacob Koottarappallil * Lead Programmer: Andrew Meggs * Technical Director: Mark Dochtermann * Executive Producer: Michael Donges * Level Designer: Paul Callender, Richard Cowgill * Programmer: Joe Riedel, Chris Jacobson * Senior Artist: Deven Winters * Animator: Victor Racz * Additional Programming: Rebecca Ann Heineman, Chris Jacobson * Additional Art: Christopher Bruce, Chris Shelton, Jesse Sosa, Chad Woyewodzic * Installer: Joel Braby * Business Development: Mark Cottam * Corporate Communications: Andrew Hoolan * Quality Assurance Lead: Guy Chapman * Quality Assurance: Ben Donges, Matt Molloy, Daniel Naruta, Duncan Stanley * Office Manager: Cathy Padgett * Additional Concept Art: Eben Cook, Kristi Tardie * Mumbo Jumbo would like to thank: Hans Hvidsten Birkeland (Vodi), Abraham Benrubi, Gavin Mahan, Nate Trost (Linoleum), Clan Plaid, Vista - from iggy and fisj and from Mike for letting them come, Dayna Rich, Phil Pruitt, Arthur Katz, everyone working the graveyard shift at Del Taco, Kathleen Delker, Darwin Dumlao, Jamus Esper, Jennifer Koottarappallil, Washington Lee, Kenneth S. Rosman, Joshua Taylor, Victor's entire family, Orsolya, Master Yoda, all the ATCs around the world, our ISP for going out of business, Food Guy, Diedrich's, Seattle's Best Coffee, Costco, Todd Goodman, Melissa Donges, Rich Shoemaker, Sue Shoemaker, Forrest Harding, Andy Schoepel, Wallace Poulter, Janice Fishman, the folks at Take2 Italy Germany and UK, Nickolaus Wing, all at MythWolfAge.com, Robert Kirschenbaum (Paligap), Joost Schuur, Dave Pindrys (Chia), Dorothy Fry (Dot), every single one of our testers Godgames * Producer: Aaron Rigby * Executive Producer: Sam Houser * Director of Development: Jamie King * Marketing: Terry Donovan, Devin Winterbottom * PR: Jeffrey Castaneda, Anne Marie Sims, Linn PR * Creative Services: Stanton A. Sarjeant, Jennymarie Jemison, Dianne Vaughn * QA Manager: Phil Santiago * QA Supervisor: Frank Kirchner * Project Lead: Lisa Nawrot * Testers: Charles Franklin, Ben Hamel, Daniel Karp, Kai Ma, Joshua Noll, Josh Rose, Jonathan Stephan, Stephen B. Thomas, Scott Vail, Joseph Howell * Box Cover Art: Jerry Leach * Many Thanks To: Jamie and Tish at the Actor's Group who are incredibly helpful and hard-working. Thanks guys!, Steve and Veronica at Steve Mitchell Productions who are also incredibly helpful and hard-working as well as flexible to help with our seat-of-the pants scheduling, Christian Mock (who as always is ready to give his best in all musical and auditory areas), Lori Goldston, Laura Thel, The Actors who were all great especially Nick Eldridge who very gracefully endured a few 'running through the woods while blindfolded' sessions, The MumboJumbo Team who have really come through and made a good series great New Pencil * Additional Artwork: Deven Winters, Craig Goodman, Craig Matchett, Kristi Tardie, R. Scott Campbell * Music - Composing, Mixing, Mastering: Zak Belica * Music ‑ Cello: Lori Goldston * Audio - Sound Design, Editing, Mastering: Zak Belica * Illustrations: Greg Faillace, Tom Tonkin * Music - Engineering, Live Recording: Christian Mock * Audio - Assistant Sound Design, Editing: Christian Mock Voice Credits * Berserks,The Watcher, Avatara, Scout: Larry Albert * Llancarfan Archer, Moagim, Myrdred: Marc Anders * Dwarven Smith/Traval, Heron Guard: Larry Ballard * Damas, Gower Spearmen, Mjarin, Training Narrator: Dennis Bateman * Llancarfan Warrior: Zak Belica * Emperor Leitrim, Male Peasant, Dwarven Axe-Warrior: Ken Boynton * Myrkridian Pack-Mage, Oghre/Mogbragga, The Trow: Scott Burns * Spider Priestess: Melissa Campbell * Ravanna, Female Peasant, Lyche, Syrkrosh: Kymberli Colbourne * Spider Cultist: Michael Donges * Narrator: Nick Eldridge * Connacht, Dwarven Demolitionist: Forrest Harding * Mazzarin, Warlocks of Scholomance, Netplay Narrator: David Scully Manuals & Guides *Myth III: English Manual *Myth III: Italian Manual *Myth III: Official Strategy Guide *Myth III: Polish Strategy Guide (Unofficial) *Let's Play Archive, Myth III: The Wolf Age External links *The Tain, Myth III contains support for Myth III, as well as additional maps and conversion packs *The Tain, Patch Updates the last updated patches made by the FlyingFlip Studios *uDogs Hotline, Myth III contains support for Myth III, as well as additional maps and conversion packs *Myth III v1.4 for Mac OSX category:Myth III: The Wolf Age Category:Myth: Antologia